Colin Campbell [I Love History]
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The man who led the Thin Red Line that stopped the Russian Cavalry
The man who led the Thin Red Line that stopped the Russian Cavalry
26-30, F
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Elevatorpitches · F
From Encyclopedia Britannica:
The allies restarted their march south on September 23, setting the stage for the Battle of Balaklava on the 25th. Early in the battle the Russians occupied the Fedyukhin and the Vorontsov heights, bounding a valley near Balaklava, but they were prevented from taking the town by General Sir James Scarlett’s Heavy Brigade and by the kilted infantry of Sir Colin Campbell’s 93rd Highlanders. Told by Campbell they must win or die where they stood, the infantry beat off two Russian cavalry charges by forming up in line on the plain and firing disciplined volleys. This heroic defense was venerated by the British press as the “thin red line,” which was an abbreviated version of a description by war correspondent William Russell (“a thin red streak topped with a line of steel.”) The Russian cavalry was then routed by Sir James Scarlett’s Heavy Brigade: Scots Greys, dragoons, and horse artillery.
The fact that this force of 300 attacked uphill at a trot against some 2,000 Russian cavalry makes the designation of this action as the “charge of the Heavy Brigade,” as Tennyson would later describe it in his lesser-known poem, something of a misnomer.
The allies restarted their march south on September 23, setting the stage for the Battle of Balaklava on the 25th. Early in the battle the Russians occupied the Fedyukhin and the Vorontsov heights, bounding a valley near Balaklava, but they were prevented from taking the town by General Sir James Scarlett’s Heavy Brigade and by the kilted infantry of Sir Colin Campbell’s 93rd Highlanders. Told by Campbell they must win or die where they stood, the infantry beat off two Russian cavalry charges by forming up in line on the plain and firing disciplined volleys. This heroic defense was venerated by the British press as the “thin red line,” which was an abbreviated version of a description by war correspondent William Russell (“a thin red streak topped with a line of steel.”) The Russian cavalry was then routed by Sir James Scarlett’s Heavy Brigade: Scots Greys, dragoons, and horse artillery.
The fact that this force of 300 attacked uphill at a trot against some 2,000 Russian cavalry makes the designation of this action as the “charge of the Heavy Brigade,” as Tennyson would later describe it in his lesser-known poem, something of a misnomer.